Brands You Always Thought Were Foreign But Are Actually Purely Indian

Keeping names which sound foreign is one of most used marketing strategy by brands to fool people to think that the brand is not Indian. Some people are in the hype to buy imported products and when they see the foreign names they predict the quality of of that particular brand. People generally have a perception that a foreign brand will definitely be better than the Indian counterpart, which is completely wrong! The market for Indian goods is expanding massively but considering the inclination of people towards foreign brands, these brands prefer a French or Italian name.

But you’ll be shocked to know that all those times you were shopping from Louis Philippe, Westside and Peter England and thinking of them as foreign brands was a complete absolute myth.

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These 10 fashion brands that sound foreign but are purely homegrown:

1. Peter England, Allen Solly & Louis Phillippe

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Subsidiaries of the Aditya Birla Group with Lifestyle arm Madura Garments, Peter England, Allen Solly and Louis Phillippe are some of the brands that are bound to exist in every Indian man’s closet.

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So yeah, all those trousers, shirts and wallets are all made right here.

2. Monte Carlo

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Established in 1984, ‘Monte Carlo’ is a leading clothing brand for men and women and famous for its woolen apparels all over the country. But this is actually a 100 per cent Indian woolen brand from the Ludhiana-based Nahar Group.

3. Flying Machine

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They might have an Italian designer named Chicco, but Flying Machine is completely Indian. In fact, it was India’s first homegrown denim brand and was launched in 1980 by Arvind Lifestyle Brand Ltd and owned by Sanjay Lalbhai, CEO and MD of Arvind Group.

4. Van Heusen

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Having a Dutch name, though it is owned by an American company, but the brand operates under license to Aditya Birla Group’s Madura Fashion & Lifestyle in India.

5. Royal Enfield

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Royal Enfield was once a British motorcycle manufacturing company. However, it is now a subsidiary of Eicher Motors Limited, an Indian automaker with factories in Chennai.

6. Lakme

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Lakmé is an Indian cosmetics brand which is owned by Hindustan Unilever. It started as a 100% subsidiary of Tata Oil Mills and was named after the French opera Lakmé which means Lakshmi.

7. AND

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Anita Dongre, the popular fashion designer has her own fashion line which has quickly taken over the market as an international brand.

8. Park Avenue

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This brand might sound British but is owned by Raymond Group itself.

9. The Raymond Group

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Started in 1925, Raymond Group is one of India’s largest suiting fabric and fashion retailers. Gautam Singhania, Chairman of JK Group of Companies, is the owner of the Raymond group.

10. East India Company

Photo Courtesy: The East India Company

From its heyday as the most powerful ruler of the world, the East India Company is now, believe it or not, a high-end luxury goods provider that is owned by Bombay-born Sanjiv Mehta. Ironic, we own a company that once owned our entire country.